


sidetrack

by natsume (akc)



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Cats, Fluff, M/M, cat rescue!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-19 04:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22004908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akc/pseuds/natsume
Summary: “Isn’t firemen saving cats from trees supposed to be a thing?” Lio raises an eyebrow. “Or am I mistaken?”
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 5
Kudos: 121





	sidetrack

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miaouz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miaouz/gifts).



> for a friend!! the prompt was lio & galo rescue a cat from a tree. :3

It has been an unreasonably long day. 

Lio spent a large portion of the morning and afternoon running around delivering messages, which is admittedly one of his least favorite tasks. It’s such a menial thing—carrying bundles of papers, saying  _ uh, sign there,  _ half a million times—and unfortunately, this is the third day in a row he’s been assigned to do it. 

He wasn’t aware that Earth clean-up required so much paperwork. 

During the first and second days of this assignment, Lio tried very hard to not be visibly irritated.  _ I can be patient,  _ he had told himself, and he was. Well—he was patient for those two days, anyway. Today he’s given up on that facade because he’s sick of not doing anything hands-on. 

Galo has definitely noticed his change in demeanor. Lio had been kicking at dirt and rocks during half of their walk home until Galo suggested that they stop somewhere and get takeout—he even offered to  _ pay _ ! Lio couldn’t say no.

They cut through the park, which now has tons and tons of new trees and bushes and flowers planted all along the walkways.  _ It looks pretty nice _ , Lio thinks as they walk together, hand in hand. Galo goofily swings their arms up and down as per usual, until suddenly he stops.

Lio turns to him. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Galo says, tilting his head like a puppy. “I think so.”

“You think so?” 

“I'm pretty sure that I heard a cat meowing a second ago,” he explains, putting a hand on his hip. “Please tell me that you heard it.”

“I didn’t hear anything,” Lio admits, regretfully. The moment after he says this, though, the air is punctured by a soft  _ meow _ . “But I did hear that one.”

Then there’s another meow. And another. And another. Lio and Galo stare at each other, facial expressions teetering on being incredulous, as this is very strange—particularly because there is no cat in sight. 

Lio says as much to Galo, who scratches the back of his head in response. “It kind of sounds like it’s coming from over there,” he says, pointing at one of the newly planted trees just a few meters away from them. “But that’s just a tree.”

Lio tries very, very hard to not laugh at the implication of Galo thinking that the tree is meowing. “I thought you were supposed to be a firefighter.”

“Wh—huh?” Galo looks away from the tree and right at Lio, who is still trying not to laugh. “I  _ am _ a firefighter! What does that have to do with anything we’re talking about right now, though?”

“Isn’t firemen saving cats from trees supposed to be a thing?” Lio raises an eyebrow. “Or am I mistaken?”

“You’re, uh—oh!” Galo slaps his forehead with his hand once he realizes that the cat is probably  _ up _ the tree, and Lio finally lets himself laugh, warm and light and genuine. His laughter is apparently enough to make Galo blush, which is extra cute.

“Are you gonna get the cat down from there?” Lio asks, pressing a kiss to Galo’s shoulder because he’s shirtless and Lio is too short to reach his lips without having to dumbly crane his neck. 

“Hell yeah I’m gonna get the cat down! Just watch me,” Galo says, putting on his determined face. He lets go of Lio’s hand and runs directly towards the tree at a speed completely unnecessary for cat rescue, and then launches himself upward into the tree. 

It only takes him a couple of pushes until he’s up onto one of the branches and Lio thinks to himself, briefly, about just how much upper body strength Galo must have. He tries not to think about this too hard, because it immediately has him feeling flushed. And, besides—Lio certainly has just as much strength.

Galo half-disappears into the tree for a few moments. He’s gone completely silent, which isn’t much like him at all. Lio wanders closer, wondering what exactly is going on in the tree. “Are you okay up there?”

“Uh—yes! Shh!” Galo replies, voice strained in a way that makes it sound as though he’s trying but failing to whisper. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shush you, it’s just that the cat—”

“I get it, I get it, Galo.” Lio puts his hands on his hips. “Focus on the cat.”

And Galo does. There are a couple of shuffling sounds, as well as the sound of a twig snapping in half, and then suddenly Galo is back on the ground, clutching a small orange cat in his arms. 

“Cute,” Lio says, voice just a whisper. It’s hard to tell whether he’s referring to the cat or if he’s referring to Galo, but the details probably don’t matter too much. 

“It’s a baby!” Galo exclaims, giving the kitten some head scratches. “Want to pet it, Lio?”

Lio blinks a few times, slightly shocked by the offer, before he reaches out and pets the kitten. It’s—soft. Very soft. The kitten rubs its head against Lio’s hand, and he thinks that it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to him. 

“Pretty adorable, right?” Galo asks, and Lio gives a response in the form of a nod and vague  _ uhhuh  _ sound, his brain too enraptured by the kitten to say anything more.

Galo then says: “I think that we should keep it.”

_This,_ however, gets Lio’s attention. “Keep it? Where, in the apartment? Have you ever owned a cat before?”

“No, but I’m not opposed to it! Why, have  _ you  _ ever owned a cat before?”

Lio makes a face. “When would I have had the opportunity to own a cat?” 

Galo also makes a face, but it’s definitely more of an apologetic and guilty one. “Oh, uhhh—sorry, Lio. Sorry.” He puts a kind hand on Lio’s shoulder and squeezes. It’s clear that he hadn’t realized what he was saying.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry.” Lio sighs and goes back to petting the cat. It looks back at him with big teacup saucer eyes, and this is enough to make him cave. “If you really want to, we can keep the cat.”

Galo jumps up into the air with the same amount of excitement and force that a cartoon character might have. Somehow he manages to keep the cat steady while he does this. “Oh, seriously? Are you sure? What if you’re allergic? Are you just saying that because I’m excited about it? What if—”

“You’re making it hard to tell whether or not you actually want to keep this cat.”

“I do!” Galo puts the kitten on his shoulder and it sits there, quietly, as if that’s where it belongs. Lio absently wonders how Galo has come to have such a kind heart despite the events that have happened in the past month. It’s nice to see that he still has all his compassion. 

“Let’s head home,” Lio says, motioning with his hand. He tries not to think too hard about using the word  _ home  _ in the way that he just did. 

Galo raises an eyebrow. “Already?”

“Yeah.” Lio smiles. “We have to stop by the pet store.”

And Galo—he smiles back, his grin as wide and bright as the biggest star in the whole universe. Lio is happy to be beside him; he is happy to go home with him.


End file.
